Russ Mills is one of our favorite artists, despite the fact that his prints are so hard to get a hold of. He keeps the prices of his prints at the premium price of £25, and the quantities are low — consistantly selling out his entire stock before we get a blog up, much less a purchase. So we contacted him and asked him to give us a heads up next time. Well, here’s the notice: NEW RUSS MILSS PRINTS AVAILABLE!, this time with a really sexy future ninja influence. Russ’s explosive painting style has delivered him a lot of notice over the past year or two. He ships worldwide, but since the prints are very limited edition, you should realize that means you’re competing with the world. Have a look at his past works in his full online gallery, but the new stuff is all in the store.

Upon first glance, the Abakus Takeout site might seem like the place to order General Tso’s chicken and some pork fried rice. Dig a little deeperand you’ll find that it’s the blog and online store based out of Philadelphia’s Chinatown that deals in exclusive kicks and an array of sweet apparel. The site has some hype gear; everything from retro Air Jordans to Ghetto Rock tees. We’ll take a little from column A and a little from column B.

Planning a mid-winter escape? Have an overseas Valentine? Out of gift ideas for President’s Day?  We’ve culled a few contributor favorites from WeJetSet.com just in time for any occasion.

Me No Speak
Why fumble over words that you can’t naturally pronounce? Me No Speak language guides take the stress out of communication while traveling by allowing you to point out exactly what you mean.

Sneaker Cleaner Travel Kit
Trekking around just about anywhere in the world will beat the hell out of your kicks. Rejuvinate on the fly and stay looking fresh with this portable cleaning kit.

Portable Device Holder
The phone, the charger, the wires, all in a neat little pile. It’s a beautiful thing.

Travel Chopsticks
The most versatile utensil other than the spork in a compact, travel-friendly form.

If your significant other has a thing for graffiti, s/he may have a thing for Start’s latest project, Big Wall Graphics. But don’t pony up for this V-Day gift unless you’re comfy turning your living room walls into graff alley throwbacks. These ballsy eye candies — featuring the work of some very notable street artists — are, uh… not small.

Big Wall Graphics work a bit like the Pop Cling stick-ups we’ve grown to love so much: art for your walls that is easy-on, easy-off, and awesomely affordable. Thanks to a printing process that uses repositional fabric paper and eco-solvent inks, the end result is something that’s easy on your walls and easy to apply, even at sizes approaching 12 square feet.

Since Big Wall Graphics is a spanking new project, there are just two prints available right now, but more will be dropping soon. Of course, kicking off with Sugarluxe’s classic ladies and Vulcan’s epic robot (check out the interview) should keep those early adopters happier than two-year-olds with popsicles.

We’re attending the 25th Anniversary of TED, which is proving to be yet another extraordinary tour de force of mind expanding speakers and entertainers. Al Gore followed up on last year’s disturbing new environmental scientific data with some even more disturbing beta and a strong attack on “clean coal”. Bill Gates proved himself to be a genuinely humorous speaker and charmed TEDsters with his foundation’s work on Malaria and educational issues. Gates shared a couch with normally cognizant TED curator Chris Anderson, who brought further laughs as he unwittingly opened up his Apple MacBook next to the Microsoft CEO to read e-mailed questions to him.

Juan Enriquez opened up with, among other topics, an eye-opening reality check on how bad the banking situation is. The true father of the Internet (not you Al), Tim Barners-Lee spoke on the need for more raw data sharing and its ability to advance humankind and solve pressing issues. Yann Arthus-Bertrand showed beautiful film footage that highlighted the global environmental condition and made everyone pause.  “Dancing Man” Matt Harding’s (famous for dancing around the world on YouTube) got both TED locations dancing. The musical hit of the day were instrumentless hip hop artists Naturally 7, who arrived fresh from their WEF Davos appearance and blew everyone away. For those who enjoy rubbing elbows with celebrities and progressive industry leaders, there are plenty to go around here. But alas, this is a trendspotting blog, not Perez Hilton.

Our buddies in design group Cypher13 are always working on something great. What follows the whimsical global collab that was the SOFT&FURRY project? If you guessed Baby Eater Buckles, give yourself a point. Todd, Alex and Lucian got together with Kristian Kluver from Rocket-Fly and made 60 belt buckles by hand. There’s human sweat in every aspect, from the decals, to the packing, to the buckles themselves. All of the belt buckles were made in Boulder, Colorado using Delrin, styrene and steel. If you act fast, you can even get your choice of number. Click here now, but be aware #3 and #7 are long gone.